Red Dead Redemption 2 - Reviews

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7.11.2018

If you don't like exceedingly long reviews (the first draft hit the 20,000 character limit I didn’t even know Amazon had) feel free to skip to the TL;DR at the end for a quick summary. I figure, there's a lot of short reviews here already and I like detail and observation - two things that Red Dead Redemption 2 certainly thrives on - and long reviews are my style, so why not?---INTRODUCTIONTo say that anticipation for Red Dead Redemption 2 was built up to a climatic fever pitch in the last few months by online gaming sites. Even after release, dedicated gaming portals like them are giving it serious coverage.The original Red Dead Redemption was something of a sleeper hit,creeping out as it did from Rockstar's San Diego studios with projections forecasting that sales would be a sliver of any Grand Theft Auto title. It was a development plagued with problems, which is a big part of the reason that it never received a PC port and most likely never will, or even a Nintendo Switch port which I’d love. To say that it defied expectations is an understatement - a great many players hold it up as not just one of the best games Rockstar ever made but one of the best games of all time, a sentiment that I share.I first played the game in 2012-3, and managed to get around 97% percent completion before I made the Marston family hang up their Stetsons for good. I wasn't especially thrilled or impressed by GTA V which I played a little while afterward - I know people swear by it but not me, I’ve played too many GTA titles now and the formula is a little worn out. I wanted more of the wandering the frontier fun and go at your own pace approach that RDR excelled at, despite the odd game engine issue or glitch.I wasn't disappointed, although the game wasn't quite what I was expecting either. We'll come to that, though.For reference I’ve played about 50 hours worth of the game so far, mostly side missions and building Arthur and the camp up. I also spent several hours doing a new game play through on Red Dead Redemption for reference.---THE NEGATIVESFirstly, the opening tutorial missions in the snow are slow, ponderous and really don't set the tone for what the game becomes in the next chapter. The visual style is dreary, the horses move slowly, the tone feels off compared to what follows. I'd watched Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" a few days before playing the game, so to me it seems like a weak sidestory to that movie with a few plot twists which are eerily similar, I assume due to the setting. They actually manage to expose many of the weaknesses in the gameplay and controls early on which feels like an odd choice for a blockbuster triple A game like this, to put your worst foot forward. It puzzled the hell out of me, for sure. The original RDR with it’s MacFarlane Ranch missions are a lot more enjoyable. Maybe Rockstar were lowering everyone’s expectations so they could be amazed later on.The next few paragraphs deal with one main topic, the biggest weakness of Red Dead Redemption 2 - the controls.One of the opening missions where Arthur is searching a log cabin for supplies is painful because of the weight on foot and the momentum; you're almost stumbling over yourself and clipping into the environment objects because of it. I suppose as gamers we're all so used to supple, light foot controls for human characters that it comes as a shock initially. You can adjust but compared to how light John Marston handles in the original game it is off-putting.The rotary wheel system that worked fairly well for the original game has been reused here, but with the added complexity of needing to be controlled by other shoulder buttons and the left analogue stick at the same time, all while keeping the L1 button held down. This often means I personally don't end up selecting the item I want to use, i.e. to change clothes while riding (a little silly and unrealistic but file it under the trope marked Acceptable Breaks From Reality) and it can be deadly not drawing the right weapon in time when a big game animal like a bear or cougar is just about to lunge and kill Arthur in his tracks.The auto-aim and cinematic kills are cranked way up by default. This would be fine if auto-aim was always pointing Arthur's gun barrels towards the most obvious enemy, but often rather than going for the guy who's trying to flank you from the side of your cover and will shoot you in the head within 5 seconds it might instead choose to direct you towards the guy 100 feet away who you probably won't fatally wound or even wing from that distance. Cinematic kills were happening with almost every body dropped and it quickly became annoying, destroying the flow and pacing of combat. I actually turned both off during Chapter One. After that, the missions with firefights which had been getting Arthur killed seemed a lot easier and I sailed through.I do think that the game as a whole does fall foul of the "flying an airplane" control scheme issue that many modern titles suffer from. It's a detailed, huge world with a variety of things to do and actions a character needs to be able to perform. I understand that, but when you're trying to talk to the chief of police in Saint Denis to glean valuable information about a bounty you're just about to track and you end up accidentally shooting from the hip and hitting him in the elbow forcing a save reload - that is a problem. (I did this. It was hilarious.)Okay, enough about the controls already! Let’s discuss the other drawbacks.Rockstar have aimed for a more involving world by having you do things like shaving and cleaning your guns. The shaving is an idea I quite like, however the cleaning guns thing is really underdeveloped. At some point rubbing down a weapon with gun oil wouldn't get the job done - it would need a full dismantling, perhaps replacement of the firing pin after chambering and unloading hundreds of rounds, especially considering this is the Wild West and ballistic weapons weren't as advanced as they are today. I figured, either make that an option or keep the guns as working 100% all the time and requiring no maintenance. This a very minor gripe and as weapon issues go it's nowhere near as irritating as worn swords exploding in the middle of a battle, which happens in Breath Of The Wild. Why not go further with the horse care, too? Apparently feeding, grooming and occasionally patting the horse is all that's required here. The “deworm your horse or it will drop dead!” ad in the shopkeepers catalogues is a moot point as that isn’t something that can be done.Talking about horses, some may recall reading that horse testicles are weather sensitive that was picked up on by the gaming press just prior to release. I wasn't concerned about this either way however what I do find strange that when the horses poop it doesn't actually seem to hit the ground, it just disappears from view. Storing the rifles on the horse's saddle becomes mildly irritating too, as you need to remember to make Arthur take them every time you dismount.*** MINOR SPOILER - SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT A PLOT POINT RUINED *** As I've read, if you fail an early mission where you take Uncle, Mary-Beth, Tilly and Karen to Valentine town and cause a ruckus which makes you notorious around the townspeople then you may lose John Marston around camp for a few chapters, including his storyline missions. The mission in question is "Polite Society, Valentine Style" and from what Rockstar have said, you MUST NOT retry from checkpoint if anything goes wrong, the whole mission must be restarted. A little disappointing that this early mission has such a problem that wasn't spotted by any developers or testers considering they gave RDR2 another year in development. I will say you don't want to lose John Marston's missions that come a little after, they're great fun, so listen to Rockstar.Other bugs I've read about and watched YouTube videos for tend more towards the hilarious and brilliant. One features a road near Rhodes where horses and their wagons spontaneously combust. Another is the spinning ragdoll glitch where NPCs and then Arthur start rotating around like a washing machine drum at full speed. And here's me thinking the original game's Cougarman glitch was golden.---THE POSITIVESThe real problem here is, where to begin with the positives because there are so many of them, more than enough to keep the games score high and outweigh the bugs, clunky controls and the disappointing "on rails” approach and setting of the Chapter One missions.Firstly, installing the game was easy. It was a long process getting GTA V installed on the Xbox 360 and PS3, I remember it well. Here it’s quick and seamless, you install the data from disc one, swap to disc two, it installs that and then the game boots. Took somewhere between 30-45 minutes when I had expected 2 or 3 hours.Now, onto the gameplay.Conversely, even though we're done with downsides of RDR2 I'm going to say something negative about the original Red Dead Redemption here to shine some light on things that the sequel does better. I love the original dearly, it's an easy pick for a place on my "Top 10 Video Games Of All Time" list, but I'll be honest - the story didn't grab me. I loved the concept of it, totally supported John's cause to clear his name and atone for past mistakes, but the way the missions were written in terms of dialogue didn’t connect with me. I found I defined John's character more from how he acted when I took him out hunting or engaged in some of the unrelated side missions. There was an understated kindness to him, a man with a good heart who was trying to set right what once went wrong, often things he caused or felt responsible for during his wild years in Dutch's gang. Every cougar I hunted and skinned and sold the pelt and claws of was money in the bank not just for John, but for Jack and Abigail and the homestead. That felt more real and more authentic than John doing the bidding of some crooked sheriff, although the closing missions did have a lot of emotional resonance that made up for some of the shortcomings of the more workmanlike story missions.In Red Dead Redemption II I actually love what they've done with the story missions and characterisation. When Arthur says things about his gang during these outings, I often agree. For example, you can very easily infer he likes John even though he regards him as a little bit lazy (moreso the laziness with Uncle), respects Dutch as an intelligent man and competent leader even if he disagrees with some of the choices Dutch makes, sees Micah as a wayward and reckless ass who may endanger the gang although at the same time enjoying going on shootouts with him to satisfy his lust for violence, is really good friends with Lenny especially as a drinking buddy, genuinely cares about the wellbeing of the women on the camp even the ones he doesn't really connect with... so many things. The characterisation is so rich and detailed it makes the missions all the more satisfying because you're on that journey with Arthur, seeing it through his eyes and understanding not just the people in his life but the man himself, why he stays with the gang, what motivates him.I think Arthur a more interesting and likeable guy than John ever was. While John is reserved to the point of taciturn and reluctant of his situation in the original game, in RDR2 Arthur is inclined to speak his mind during missions, often quipping at his situation with a wry sense of humour and wit. When encountering strangers out on the plains he can wave and say things like “Howdy mister” if you choose to be the friendly type.The way I play Arthur isn't too different from the way I played John in the original - the loner with a heart of gold, reticent to shoot people down in cold blood, trying to balance being an outlaw with looking after the people closest to him. The game feels like it reacts to this, too - when I donated $700 to the Horseshoe Overreach fund I heard Dutch raise his voice approvingly so the whole camp could hear. It was like being vindicated, Dutch telling everyone "now here is a man who disappears for days at a time without saying a word, yet the first thing he does when he returns before he eats, sleeps or shaves is give us all a huge donation". Wild Bill's half-mocking, half-serious "The hero returns!" shouted from his lookout spot in the forest on the way in to camp next time didn't hurt either. Maybe every player gets these lines, I don't know. Probably. But to me it feels dynamic, a game responding realistically to my actions due to the timing of their delivery.Horse riding is more difficult than it was before, but feels more satisfying and less arcade style. It requires some care and attention, because if you send your horse into a tree at full gallop it looks, sounds and feels horrible. Every time it happens I think I've killed the poor creature, that’s how good the attention to detail is. The horse bonding system while simplistic is brilliantly executed. In GTA V you can’t really bond with a car, and the limited recreational activities in that game can’t compare to the significance of Arthur lovingly giving his horse a rubdown to get all the dirt from the sandy plains off after a long day riding. A videogame - a work in a medium that has long been derided for "not being true art" - has taught a jaded videogame player like me a little about how people can bond with their horses in real life in a way that was emotionally meaningful. Very impressive.And the thing is, the game gets even better.I haven't even gotten to the part where I took on the incredible side mission of locating "famous" gunslingers and finding out if they were the stuff of legend or just pretenders. What about climbing to the top of a train hurtling down the tracks full speed for a duel that nearly got Arthur killed during that same mission, with the reward being a rare, expensive, custom engraved "Midnight" Mauser pistol? Or how about taking a long trek back up to the snowy capped Grizzlies mountains, thinking I was hunting a legendary animal only to realise it was a big hulking but fairly common elk, skinning it then spotting a beautiful white Arabian horse some way up a slope curious about Arthur but also ready to bolt at the slightest twitch? I had to leave to bust Micah out of jail after I failed to capture her, but when I returned a few days later with resolve I knew that I'd make the animal mine. All of this came a few weeks after I nearly got Arthur killed hunting the legendary bear with Elias which ended in running out of bullets for the Repeater Carbine and resorting to a knife just as the bear jumped on top of him and was about to make the killing stroke with his claws. Epic, memorable and gripping moments in gaming and I'm still only on Chapter Two of the game. The way I look at it, I've already got my £50 worth of entertainment and yet there's a wealth more of it packed in that 50-60GB of data.And this is it. That is what makes the game special, right there, in that paragraph of breathless exposition where I'm almost reliving events that happened in a game world as if I were there myself. I could have stripped the rest of the review out and just left that part but I had to give it context.-CONCLUSIONRed Dead Redemption 2 had a weight of expectation resting on it.People on the internet were doing their usual thing of passing judgement on a piece of pop culture that hadn't even been released yet, looking to pick holes, the usual impatient nonsense.It was eight years in the making, off the back of a game that wasn't meant to be a hit, off the back of yet another game that Rockstar finished only after it was well into development - Red Dead Revolver. It has clunky complicated confusing controls. It's opening missions are disappointing. There are some odd bugs even after such a lengthy development. It's hopelessly ambitious, sprawling, sometimes maddening. It's slow paced, hard to fathom. It runs completely contrary to what a CoD or FIFA player expects from a video game.Yet for it's many flaws it's breathtakingly brilliant.I don't think people even realise how much of a risk Rockstar took with this game. It feels like they poured every resource they had into it. That it's even barely cohesive given this amount of scale, that it plays as well as does, that it makes you overlook the flaws and just sink into the world it creates, that's quite something. When the handholding comes off (and if you choose to switch more of it off from the options menu, especially) you need to work at it and summon skill as a gamer, lateral thinking, improvisational nuance given a wide set of features and physics to interact with. This version of the "Rockstar Advanced Gaming Engine" really emphasises the Advanced part; you can feel it tickling the limits of what the consoles are capable of and how much the developers can flex their skills in a way that is enjoyable for the players.********TL;DR********I think we may need to revisit the common perception that video games are just "murder simulators" or sports sims and see that this is where the future is headed.Red Dead Redemption 2 is nowhere near perfect. But then neither was the original Red Dead Redemption, and I love that game. When you take massive risks in a game like this, when there are so many human hands at work, you're not going to achieve perfection. All you can hope for is that everyone put their best foot forward and there are points where it hits transcendence, where something provokes a strong, primal response from the players. I’ve had those over and over so far and I’ve barely scratched the surface of all there is to do.The graphics are gorgeous. The controls take some grappling with. Both of those play second fiddle to the GAMEPLAY, which is spot on a majority of the time.One of the few games this generation that feels like a big leap forward. Incredible.

4.10.2019

It’s safe to say that RDR2 has really divided opinion and most reviews will fall into one of two camps – either that it’s a must play masterpiece, or that it’s really slow and boring so avoid it – so which is it?Having played this game for many hours (100+) I’m about half way through the main story line and have come to a few conclusions and realisations, so hopefully this review will help you decide one way or the other if you are sitting on the fence and not sure whether to buy it or not.I think the most important thing right from the start is to go into the game with managed expectations – This is absolutely not a “cowboy shoot em up” (although there are gunfights) so the action is quite sporadic and infrequent.The best way to think of the gameplay is as a Wild West/Cowboy simulator, with a huge emphasis on realism and authenticity. The key to enjoying the game, is to go in for the full immersive experience and completely lose yourself in the world that Rockstar have created.With this in mind, this is very much a game to be savoured and to take your time with – it’s not really a game you can dip in and out of, or one that you can grab a quick hour on here or there. It’s been designed to be played in long sessions to enhance that feeling of immersion and the pace of the game has been designed to enrich that experience as much as possible, whilst trying to be as realistic as possible – which very often means a slower pace, in keeping with the task you are carrying out.So if you are looking for a fast paced shooter with lots of constant action and excitement, this is probably not a game you will enjoy and as many of the reviews state, will most likely find the game tedious and boring. If on the other hand you like games that you can completely lose yourself in for hours at a time and really “become” the character, then you will love this game. To be clear, there absolutely are parts that are exciting and action packed, but they happen occasionally rather than all the time – a rough split would be about 70/30 – 70% exploration, 30% action.If you are still reading, then the full immersive experience obviously appeals to you and so you are in for a real treat. There are a great many things to write about for this game, but I’ll break it down into sections to try and give you a flavour of what you can expect when playing. It takes a good while to get your head around how to play this game, and you might want to play each session you have differently. For example, one day you might want to focus entirely on hunting or fishing, another day you might want to do some of the main story line, and another day you might want to just explore the beautiful world and see what you discover randomly. There is no “right or wrong” way to play and I often found myself thinking “I’m not too sure what I’m actually meant to be doing here”, before realising that I had been playing it for 8 hours straight – and that is the real beauty of this game, it just absorbs you and sucks you right in.There will come a time – and for me it was after about 30 or 40 hours’ worth of playing, that you get a real “lightbulb” moment, when things click into place – the vibe, the controls, the realism, the tension, the story, the loneliness, the animals, the weather, the whole Wild West world all come together and just gels. It’s a wonderful experience when everything just comes together and you “get it”.Graphics:The graphics in RDR2 are jaw droppingly good and really have raised the bar for console graphics across the industry. Seriously. The level of detail is simply staggering and very often whilst playing the game it really does look and feel like you are playing a character in a movie. The landscapes are very varied and consistently gorgeous, nothing looks flat or fake, on the contrary, individual leaves move on foliage, the world is alive with animals, birds and insects, and the weather cycles are stunning. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, bustling towns and flowing rivers with fish rising. It’s truly wonderful. Rockstar have also added a really cool cinematic feature which changes the camera angle so that it looks like a film. For example, say you were riding from point A to B, whilst controlling the horse to make it travel (with the standard 3rd person view) you press down on the touchpad (on PS4 controller) and the camera angle will shift to make it look like a cut scene – but you are still controlling the horse and have full control. Really cool. You can play in first person, or 2 different angles of third person.Controls:The controls definitely take a bit of getting used to and there has been a fair bit of criticism around this. However, perseverance is key and you will get the hang of them with practice. It’s not so much that they are difficult per se, it’s just that there is so much to control – weapons, food, tonics, ammunition, clothing, items (such as a lasso or lantern), your horse, the horses food, your horses brush, your satchel, your journal, the map, the compendium (basically the glossary of the game) and so on. There is a LOT to take in here and it will take time to get your head around it. However when you do, it’s actually a lot more intuitive that you might think at first. Frankly with so much to control within the game, I don’t really see how the controls could have been configured in any other way and the criticism they have received is perhaps unduly harsh. That being said, one control that I think was poorly conceived was repeatedly pressing X to run, which just doesn’t feel right! Luckily however, you can go into the main settings and adjust this to FPS settings, which changes the run control to the left stick toggle, and X to crouch/stand. There are several articles on this online – I strongly recommend you do this, as it changes the gameplay considerably.Immersion:This I think is the deal breaker for many people – you will either love it, or hate it! As I mentioned earlier, the game has been designed to be as realistic as possible and much of what you do will directly influence this – the game even takes into account the weight of the character you are playing, and you need to ensure that he eats and drinks to stay healthy. If he is underweight, there’s a permanent decrease of stamina. If he is overweight, he has increased stamina but lower health. If you travel to a cold region, you must put him in winter clothes or his stamina will drain far quicker. Small individual things, but they all add up to the realism the game strives to achieve. Similarly you need to look after your horse by ensuring that it is always fed and watered, brushed clean and generally cared for to keep it in top condition and to bond with it. You need to regularly clean your weapons to keep them in top condition – either yourself using gun oil, or by taking them to a gun smith in one of the townships.Hunting and killing animals (for their pelts and also meat) is quite graphic and you can spend many hours just hunting and trying to get the perfect pelt for either crafting or selling. Pelts can be damaged (by using the wrong weapon to hunt for example) so taking your time with this is essential. Again this has been made as realistic as possible, and you need to take into account the way the wind is blowing so that your scent is always downwind of the animal. You can lay bait and wait for the animal to arrive, which takes time, and then try to get the perfect shot with your bow or rifle (depending on the type of animal you are hunting). If you miss the shot, or wound the animal, then you need to track it again to repeat the process. Similarly, you can go fishing and just like the real thing, this can take time and your line can snap if you reel it in too quickly. Both of these activities are optional, but in order to play the game you will need to do it at some point to get food for yourself, and also the camp where you stay.The immersion in the game is what you make of it – if you really get involved it’ll be more realistic – you can’t get away from this, but how much you want to play it like a simulator will depend on how much time you put in to playing it as such. Personally I love it, but I completely get that this won’t be for everyone and some may not be interested in this at all – it comes down to personal choice. The examples I’ve given above are to show you the level of realism that the game goes in to, there are plenty more examples I could give but I’ll leave you to find these out and enjoy them yourself.Character ProgressionStrangely for an RPG, the character progression is quite limited. You have a health and stamina gauges or “cores”, plus one for “Dead Eye” which is a mechanism that slows time to place accurate shots. Each will progress through the game depending on how much you do to assist it. For example, fishing will increase your health core, running or fist fighting will increase your stamina core, and crafting/cooking will increase your dead eye core. Each can also be boosted by taking an appropriate tonic, or from enhancing things that you cook – for example, plain venison might boost your health, but cooking the venison with herbs may boost your health and stamina, and so on. Yet again, the details make the difference. Dead eye can be increased by eating chewing tobacco, or smoking a cigar!There is no skill tree whatsoever, but your familiarity with weapons increases the more you use them. The weapons you can use are not extensive (again in keeping with the time the game is set) and fall into categories of pistols, rifles, shotguns and repeaters. Different ammunition can be bought for each. You also have a bow, which is used for hunting but can also be used as a weapon – with incendiary or poison arrows for example.Your character also has an “honour” system, which will go up or down depending on whether you do good or bad things – the more bad things you do, the less honour you will have and the way people interact with you will change. By bad things, I mean murder, steal or generally be nasty. Good things will be helping people in distress, or killing members of the KKK (yes really). There are dozens of examples all across the game, but you get the idea.Breaking the LawThe law in RDR2 are a constant threat – by how much, depends on how much crime you commit (which also ties in to the honour system). If you commit a crime and it is witnessed, and you don’t manage to kill the witness, then the law will start searching for you – which then gives you the option of fighting them, or running away. Either is actually quite hard. In either case, you will then become wanted and a bounty will be placed on your head. How large the bounty is depends on what crime you committed. If you kill all the lawmen coming after you, the bounty will increase and bounty hunters will start looking for you. They can appear at any time and the AI is really good, these moments are tense and can be quite difficult to get away from, either by hiding, or by killing the bounty hunters. If you kill them, the bounty goes up and the amount of bounty hunters will increase, eventually becoming a full blown posse. They will never stop unless the bounty is paid (by you) which can cost a considerable amount, depending on how high the bounty is – the irony being, that in order to pay the bounty, you need to commit more crime or robberies to get enough money to pay the bounty off.Crimes vary but law response is swift and it is quite hard to get away with anything – unless you plan it well or commit it in a place which puts the odds in your favour – for example robbing a stagecoach on the open plains rather than just outside a town. Very often you are forced to flee, and how successful you are at fleeing will depend on the condition of your horse and whether you have been caring for it properly – you see how everything comes to bear and is interlinked? Again, this is the beauty of the game.Main StoryThe main story is very well written, with a realistic and thought out plot, believable characters and great dialogue. You are part of an outlaw gang, your “family”, on the run after a job went sour in a place called Blackwater. The story takes you very organically around the map, taking you to various locations – some very unexpected, and keeps the tension rising throughout. There are some classis Western elements, such as a Mexican stand-off and riding through the night to save your friends – this might sound a bit cheesy, but in fact is very well done and in keeping with the game and time you are playing in (1899). I’m about halfway through the main story line (after around 100+ hours playing) so have yet to see half the map, but the story and characters have me hooked for sure.Best Way to PlayThis is very subjective and everyone will be different, but personally I think the best way to play the game is by mixing things up often and trying out new things. Definitely play the main story line, but intersperse this with side missions and general exploration. The game is littered with easter eggs and things to see and come across. Very often, I like just riding into the mountains and hunting deer in the moonlight. Experiment with breaking the law and the honour system – you can maybe play one area as a really evil bad ass, and fight the law constantly – whilst the next area you can be a decent citizen and help people around the town – the choice is yours. Mixing it up is essential to make the game flow – spend too much time doing one thing and the game will get boring and samey, but changing play styles and activities often keeps it fresh and enjoyable, and doing so is really organic and fluid.SummaryRDR2 is an absolutely massive game, and you will be able to play this solidly for months no problem. It takes a good while to get your head around it and for the penny to drop, but once it does it’s a great moment and you will be grinning from ear to ear. As I said at the start of this review, you need to go into this with the right expectations – it IS slow in places, but deliberately so – and that’s the whole point. When you consider the amount of thought and effort that has gone into this game, coupled with the unbelievably good graphics and well written story, it really does fall into the masterpiece camp, for me anyway. Many will disagree, but this is a marmite game for sure.The game is so big and so layered that I have only really scratched the surface of its content – but the reason I wrote this review was to give the counter argument to the “it’s boring” camp that many are falling into – that’s their opinion, and they are entitled to it and that’s fair enough, the game is not for them – that’s cool, but for those who like a hyper realistic gaming experience and are comfortable with immersive and detailed, consequential gameplay, this game is an absolute gem. I love it.

13.1.2019

Almost perfect!Closest thing I’ll see to perfection. Rockstar gave me everything I wanted and much much more. They created the best sandbox I have ever been in and whats more made a world where something new was always happening while travelling even after 100 hours of gameplay. Packed with so many easter eggs and nods to the sequel. I love this game so much!Sure it’s not perfect, the hundredth time I slammed my horse into a rock or other rider or accidentally shot a random NPC in one of the towns can be very annoying. However, while these would be massive mistakes in other games, I can look over it in Red Dead because what I am left with is a world so detailed and big that I never ever get bored.I even overlook fast travel because travelling can spark so many hidden strangers, treasure, story quests or even just randomness that a long trip never gets boring. I have never played a game where the world is so so detailed that I was still finding things 80+ hours into the game.Like I said it has it’s negatives which is why I can’t give it a perfect mark but they are small minor details considering the size of the game and the world Rockstar has created.At first my biggest issues were with the controls, there are so many combinations or buttons that have different actions depending on where you were. Run and jump on your horse? fine so long as there isn’t anyone standing by your horse because if there was you end up rugby tackling them to the floor instead and now you have a wanted level. That said you do like any other game get used to the controls but sometimes you will accidentally shoot your gun or punch the wrong person.The weapon layout you set never sticks even if you set it at the gun store. I understand that you will need a different weapon depending on what you are doing but sometimes you just don’t have the time! for example when my horse gets spooked and throws me off because a cougar is nearby I want to have my rifle ready so I can claim that perfect pelt but more often than not I end up shouting it 10 times with a pistol because that’s all I have equipped!Birds! the birds! finding what you need and finding a perfect one can be a chore but this is optional.Cinematic mode is a nice way to travel but don’t walk away from your console because you can still be ambushed and what’s worse you can still collide with other NPC’s. That or you hit cinematic mode and your horse just stops dead!And last but not least, I have had a couple of side quests that pop up and you travel all that way for them just to say thank you lolLike I said these are all minor issues and if the game was smaller I may look at these with a bigger distaste. Colliding with a rock or tree or NPC can sometimes make me laugh rather than get annoyed an sometimes I just gave me an excuse to cause a shootout which is always fun. The only time I got annoyed was finding a perfect Robin!Where there a few minor issues the game has so many positives. The Dynamic weather is amazing, I love the storms seeing that lightning hit the ground near you or hit a house causing a fire. The rain looks different depending on where you are. You could be out in the middle of no where and see the puddles and mud build up or in a town and see it dripping off all the roofs or in a forest area and hearing the drips from the trees. The detail in sunset, sunrises, mist, water, fog or the night sky on a clear day is to be marvelled.The attention to detail needs to be commended, the world feels real, everyone talks to you differently and remember not only you but anything you have done! hold up a store and they will remember, shoot a storeman and next time you see him he will be bandaged up. People will remember how long you have been away, come back straight away and they will ask if you have forgotten something, come back after a while and they will great you welcoming you back to their store and if you have stayed away for a long time they will tell you they haven’t seen you in a while.Dogs will remember you if you have paid them any attention coming up to you wagging their tails in excitement. Things are happening all the time, you stop and watch some of the NPC’s you will hear full conversations or see bar fights or muggings, transport of prisoners, pointless conversations, conversations that will disclose information for you to do something with or eve spying on a couple through their window.Hunting animals this time is more detailed, you have to learn information about what you are hunting than you can track these animals and learn which weapon will provide you with the perfect pelt. Put on headphones for more immersion with animal locations, every area sounds different and you can hear the woodlands come alive with 100’s of different animals.Kill and animal and leave it there and it will stay there for days and each time you will go back it will have degraded a little bit more or have other animals feeding on them until all that’s left is a pile of bones.Same with people, shoot up a town and so long as you are not caught you can see people come and clear the bodies away.Missions can be tackled in different ways. Not only missions but side-quests. Who knew that any developer would have put so much into one side-quest. I watched someone play through a stranger mission in 10 different ways, 10! They had a woman asking Arthur to help them hide a body of a man they killed. You can do this of course but you could also kill her, leave her to her fate, hogtie her and take her to the sheriff, go to the sheriff and report her and watch as they go and get her etc. Simply fantastic.Nothing you do feels like a waste of time, no Ubisoft repeat missions, every side-quest, mission or stranger mission is different and all of them are worth doing. Every NPC can be interacted with.The game also wouldn’t be a Rockstar game without hidden easter eggs and this game is not shy of the, From random encounters (nothing spoiled) to hidden locations on the map, treasure maps and gangs hiding out.The main story gave me everything I wanted from a prequel. The missions are well thought out and everything you do has a reason or has consequences. I never thought I would like Arthur which Rockstar presented him to us but I did. As the game went on I felt my bond with him become closer and cared about his past and how I went into missions. At the start I didn’t care for him much so was a total outlaw shooting up places and people everywhere I went but towards the end of the game I mellowed out more and became more like I played John in the first game.Every character in your game you bond with in different ways. All have missions to do and you will bond with everyone. I really cared about my gang and wanted to protect them even some who I didn’t like so much but I had feelings for.Lastly the game ties up everything nicely with the original red dead and it left me wanting more.

29.10.2018

After more hype than I can remember for any other game, Red Dead Redemption 2 is among us and has a heck of a lot to live up to. Is it the game we all hoped for?I’m reviewing Red Dead 2 after approximately 15 hours of play, because if I wait till I’m finished everyone will have already long since bought it and my review would be pointless.Like many I’d pre-ordered the game, but unusually for me I’d purchased the digital Special Edition from the PS Store as I knew I’d be playing this for months and didn’t want to be constantly changing discs to play something else. I’d already downloaded the massive game file and was sat watching the countdown at midnight on Thursday and was straight in the moment it was playable.Immediately, and every moment onwards, the game is a cinematic masterclass. You don’t see much of the spectacular scenery for the first hour of so of gameplay as you’re in the blizzard filled mountains, but come Chapter 2 you’re into your new camp and ready to explore the vast wilderness of the Wild West, and graphically the game does not disappoint. Everything is so incredibly detailed and beautiful, you’re immediately part of the game and hooked on the experience.You’re playing as Arthur, a rough but loveable rogue of a cowboy, gunslinger and bounty hunter for hire. You’re the right-hand man to the leader of a motley bunch of men and women on the run from their past. Within a couple of hours of starting the game you’ll have become as part of the group as Arthur is, living and breathing the western life. Besides taking part in the many available missions you’ll also be expected to provide for the camp, bringing in money and food for the good of the collective. There are countless side missions, and you’re going to spend a lot of time just aimlessly wandering off and exploring. The testament of a quality open-world game is your desire to just be in the game and explore. God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and of course Rockstar’s own Grand Theft Auto 5 are all great examples of this, and RDR2 is their equal in that regard. You feel a bond with the game, with Arthur, his gang and of course your trusty stable of horses. You have to look after your horse, feed him and clean him, and keep him safe from danger. And marvel at just how often he takes a dump. You’ll be spending a lot of time together so you’ll probably find yourself talking to him like I do, much to my wife’s amusement. You can keep multiple horses for different tasks, although I was a little disappointed that you can’t do the same for dogs that you meet wandering around. I stumbled across a border collie last night and thought he’d have a made a great companion to my horse and I on our adventures.The missions I’ve completed so far have been enjoyable. Long enough to be involving but short enough not to be a chore. I’d heard a few people talking about the mission where you and Lenny go to the bar in Valentine to let off some steam, and it really is superb. I’ve not played anything like that before and it left a big smile on my face.Controlling Arthur is pretty straight forward. There are plenty of commands to learn, and you’ll occasionally make mistakes, but generally they’re pretty good. If I have a criticism it’s that all too often I find myself crouching (pressing down L3) accidentally, and more concerningly I’ve blown a few people’s heads off when trying to simply pass on a greeting. But hey, it’s not called the Wild West for nothing! The item/weapon wheel also takes a little getting used to, as there can be multiple button presses to get to where you want, but you have so many weapons and items in your inventory you accept that Rockstar’s solution is actually quite slick when you’re used to it. Ultimately, your interaction with the game is well thought out and doesn’t interfere with gameplay.So, has RDR2 lived up to the hype? Unquestionably. It’s a magnificent game and I expect to be lost in its spectacular world for a few months more. There will be criticism of the pace of the game, I’m sure. I would call it leisurely. You will spend a great deal of time walking or trotting along. The game isn’t a white knuckle ride, nor does it set out to be. RDR2 is about the experience and not filling every moment with action. This isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and I can appreciate that some may be disappointed and frustrated by the pace. But, Rockstar have tried to give us a fully immersive western experience and I’m sure there was more time spent sitting around camp fires than hanging off of the side of a stagecoach. Enjoy RDR2 as an experience instead of a game.Is it the best PS4 game of 2018? More difficult to answer. In the past 12 months I’ve played and completed Batman Arkham Knight, Rise of the Tomb Raider (a bit behind the curve on those ones), and Platinumed Horizon Zero Dawn with Frozen Wilds DLC, God of War, and Spiderman with last week’s new DLC so I think I’ve got some decent games to compare against. All of those games have something different to the others, and each were brilliant in their own right. Of them all I would suggest that RDR2 and Horizon have quite a lot of similarities in gameplay and approach, which isn’t a bad thing as Horizon was a magnificent gaming experience. By the time I conclude my time on RDR2 I’m pretty confident it’ll have become the greater of all of those games.But, is it better than GTA5? Now that really is the million-dollar question.

29.10.2018

This game more than lives upto the hype...Its a landmark in gaming history .....Im 23% into main story and already ive had experiences on this game il never forget...Where to start this review??Theres so to much to say about this game...Il just write what happened in one of many different scenarios ive experienced so far...I had to track down this old gun slinger to talk to about a book that was being wrote ....He was on a train in the bar....We started talking and he freaked out and ran off onto the top of the train...I ran after him....and we ended up doing dueling on the top of the train...I beat him eventually.....(after a few trys....)End of mission....but i stayed on the train and ended up in this big city at about 6pm...The alarm was raised as i was wanted..... I stayed on train as long as possible but it stoped in a station with lawmen everywhere...Im managed to run away while being shot at....every1 was shouting........i was getting chased around this maze of a city.....bursting through doors jumping over walls & hideing to escape..........none of this is scripted at all its your own experience.....but seems so real...The city itself is the most detailed ive seen in a game ever....ever nook and cranny is alive....and people are going about there business...I eventually managed to get out of the city alive but filthy and bloody....But i had no horse and was dirty so everbody was suspicion of me...Eventually i had to murder someone and steel his horse to try and get away nearer my camp...I actually felt bad for killing someone because the game gives you a different experience if you are good or bad and im trying to be good...lol..I got back to a small town on my stollen horse ......I found a hotel...paid $1 for a room and 0.25cents for a bath......Cleaned all my weapons (which u need to do as they degrade)And slept for 12 hours...Got up at the crack of dawn and wondered back to camp......Where a women asked me to take her son fishing.....I did and court 3 fish with him......???.Simply amazing.........EDIT.......72% into main story i feel i must address negative comments on other reviews...Firstly.... people moaning about wanted level and been hunted down....???You are an outlaw....a murderer!!.....u will be hunted down...AND!?!?!?!......This is obviously going to happen its part if the game........If the map starts to turn red then bounty hunters are close by.....Leave in the opposite direction staright away and you can always get away.......If you opt to stay and defend yourself early on in the game it is harder to get through these attacks.......but as the game moves on and you level up with better weapons and you get better at the game you can defend yourself against groups of bounty hunters.........And its becomes great fun to find cover and take them on.....and very satisifying to beat them.....and then loot the bodies.....Gamers in reviews moaning about being tracked by bounty hunters are obviously not very good at the game......end of story....It takes a bit of time to be able to take them on........untill then just ride away in good time.....and do main story missions untill you are good enough to take them on.....My own opinion is actually the opposite...i believe its a bit to easy to beat them after a while......maybe ive just got good at it....im not sure....I personally find it awesome exploring the map...sleeping next to a fire at night knowing people are after you.......its what the game is all about.....YOUR AN OUTLAW !!!!!Secondly gamers moaning about the controls...!!The control's are fine but take time to learn and to perfect.....You must plan where your going to take cover......not just run and hope by tapping r1 you will immediately find cover......The controlls could be better yes i admit but after alot of time on the game you wont notice......And Lastly ....People moaning the game is boring!!!!!Wtf!!!!!! i just cannot believe some People...This is a game you sit down and experience especially in the 1st 4 or 5 hours.....it draws you in to another world........you need to let it..........I personally believe the majority of people saying its boring and slow are the call of duty generation ..........The gamers with hyper anxiety who play muliplayer over and over again.....who want a quick fix of killing people ......Wrong game entirely im afraid.......This game requires 3 hours minimum spare time to play especially on the first sit in.....The story is amazing and the cutscences are amazing..........You must give the game the time it deserves....

24.11.2019

I've never really been interested in this type of game before, Im more FPS games like CoD etc. I saw the 1st RDR game and wasn't interested even a little. I just thought it was another silly cowboy game that I had no interest in. I bought it for my fiance as he wanted it and that was that. After a few hours of him playing it I found myself keep stopping what I was doing and watching. 5 mins would become 10 then half an hour would become an hour I just found myself engaged in the story and the characters. So I decided I was going to give it a go. I'm so glad I did I absolutely loved it.The graphics are stunning and you can choose to play in either 1st or 3rd person. This game takes place before RDR.The story is about the gang before the original RDR and gives you a better idea of all the characters history prior to the original. In this one however you play as a character called Arthur, a friend of John and Dutch etc.The game starts in the snowy mountains as you and the gang are on the run looking for a place to stay. This first chapter has alot of cinematics and cut screens. This helps you get used to the controls and game play. Riding horses, shooting, lasooing hiding from enemies etc if your not too familiar with this, this is helpful. The main story in this game is outstanding. It's about being on the run and trying to make or steal enough money to find a safe place for you and your gang to call home. The game is full of twists and turns and ups an downs, one minute your robbing a bank with your gang and then at the opposite end your all riding out to get back a kidnapped child. It really is an emotional roller-coaster.Aside from the main story the game has so much to offer. Around the map you will meet treasure hunters and you can buy or steal their maps. You can help a paleontologist find dinosaur bones, you can help catch a serial killer, you can help a very interesting traveller with his strange rock wall carvings. There are alien spaceships to be seen even a ghost train if your in the right place at the right time. There is a hidden giant you can talk too and plenty more surprises to be founds. You can even catch a vampire by following mysterious messages left on walls. Just to name a few. There is so much to discover and plenty of points of interest you will not get bored. Then on top of all that there are puzzles that reward you with gold bars. These are great for selling and can make you alot of money. You can fish and hunt too. These can be sold for money to but can also be used at the trappers hut for upgrades to clothing, health, stamina and even horse boosts. You can also donate animals/pelts to your camp for money, camp upgrades and food. Around the map you will find people you can play dominoes, five finger fillet, black jack or poker with for a bit of extra cash.The game can be played with Arthur as a good guy or the bad guy or a little of both. You have an honour scale so you can see how different decisions affect your honour. How you play is entirely your choice, however if you choose to be bad (dishonourable) people are more fearful of you and stores charge you more for purchases. However being a good guy (honourable) will get you some nice discounts in stores around the towns. Different towns have different store types. Where you can top up on ammo, food, new clothes even fish bait. You also have the option to bathe. Your choice entirely, however bathing does increase your stamina. Food in this game is an important factor. Eat too much and you can become overweight, this affects stamina but increases the amount of damage you can take. Not enough food and you can move faster but you can take less damage. Or you can keep it average try to stay down the middle.The game is fantastic, it's brilliant, it's beautiful and it's emotional. It has been well thought out and well written. Even down to the choice of music. I absolutely loved it and I hope they make another one. It would be nice to go even further back to before this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, I did everything I could before the switch to Texas area until all I could do was continue the story. I completed the game and challenges 100% and thought the little cinematic at the end for 100% completion was a nice touch. A fantastic amount of playing time for the price.We now have 3 copies of this in our house because nobody wanted to wait for someone else to stop playing. I highly recommend it to anyone. Brilliant game, just brilliant.Thank you for reading my review and I hope this was helpful to you ?

6.12.2018

I completed the story a few days ago so thought a review was in order. I bought the standard edition...I have only done the story and side missions that I encountered (I may have missed some side ones but not sure) so that's what I'll be reviewing, I haven't done as much free exploring as I'd like. But at least I completed the story before reviewing which is more than most can say. I hate to rush a story in beautiful games like this but I needed to because I had to pack my PS4 away as we are having major work done on our house in the lead up to Xmas so I needed to complete the story before it was spoiled to me online (which happened with RDR1).So, the game is much prettier than RDR1,that game had areas that always looked the same to me (even Mexico) but this game has varied landscapes. It's a beautiful game and I play on an original PS4, it even seems to run better on that rather than the pro where I have seen numerous gitches. But it's not without glitches on the original either. Which is a shame as they should be picked up on if you believe the rumour that Rockstar had some of their lead developers work over 100 hour weeks to get this game done. I believe the most serious glitch, where some members of camp disappear if you restart an early Uncle mission from a checkpoint, was patched which is good.This game is stunning visually. And I bonded with Arthur Morgan way more than I did John Marston. I think the trailers of this game portrayed Arthur as much more evil than John but actually he's not. The honour system isn't perfect in this game, if you get bad honour then it is really difficult to progress as even if you kill someone bad, like a gang member, on the roads then chances are a passer by will report you. It's much better to earn high honour before doing anything remotely outlaw like. Which can be ridiculous as the game is about outlaws. I just explained it away with the idea that people were becoming much harder on outlaws now. But then I decided to play Arthur as mostly good and that's the only way you will reap any rewards in this game. So the honour system is a bit pointless.The one thing I love in this game is that your relationship with horses is much better. You actually have to take care of them by feedng and brushing them to raise your relationship. In the first game, if your horse died you just whistled and another came along with a saddle and that was your horse. Now you can name them and personalise their appearance and have your own personal saddle and can buy different horses as the game progresses and Arthur actually loves them, he's concerned if they are hurt. I run away from gunfights and ambushes just so my horse doesn't get hurt and I went the whole game without hunting to upgrade my satchel or other items, because I hated killing animals for their skins. I killed only for food for camp, or when missions required it. Other than that I fished for camp. Fishing is great in this game. I loved the camp aspect to this game. I had a purpose, to try and keep them fed and happy. And you would get told off by Susan if you didnt donate to the camp funds or you'd get praised by Dutch if you did. Or Pearson would mention the food stocks were low. It gives incentive to get out there and work. And then randomly, I walked past Lenny and he farted :DOne camp upgrade you can buy is fast travel I was excited to get this. In the first game you just camped in the wilderness and could fast travel from there. In this game you can only fast travel from camp. I hate it and find it pointless. Even if you use it, you get a fairly long cutscene of Arthur getting on his horse and part of the travel that can't be skipped, so it's a really pointless feature.The map is beautiful scenery wise, but I do personally wish there were more towns. Apparently, it is much bigger than the RDR1 map but I feel it's slightly bigger, I just think it's much prettier and more detailed. But I still need to explore more. I will do a more thorough playthrough in the new year. What I have seen is wonderful though and the story is much more detailed than RDR1 I and I love it. I know there is more to find and discover secrets within the world. But some gave up on this game because of the slow start. People that don't like slow burners and are only interested in multiplayer are wasted on the story in this game and it is their loss sadly.4 stars though just because it shouldn't have the glitches it does. And I feel the fast travel is useless..

26.10.2018

I very rarely purchase games for release day, and it’s even rarer for me to order a Special Edition… however, being such a huge Rockstar and Red Dead fan, this was a must for me.If you’re still on the fence as to whether you should buy this, then hopefully this will help:Install:The game is huge, so big in fact that not only does it come on two discs, but it also requires a 105GB download… it was a painful 3 hour wait for me before I could play (even with a fast internet connection).Pre Order / Special Edition Bonus Add On's:If you're like me and started playing the game first, and then used the pre-order / bonus codes after, you may find that they haven't installed. To rectify this,close the game down, go to the game icon on the PS4 Homepage and scroll to the very bottom where it states PlayStation Store and select the Add-Ons, here you can select the download arrow which will install them again manually. Re-start the game and they'll be there. Keep in mind that the horse won't be available until you find a stable, and that most of the other stuff (i.e. guns, outfits etc. won't be available until chapter 2 at the earliest).Trophies:There are 52 trophies for any fellow trophy hunters. If you want the platinum, you’re going to need to put in some serious effort. It’s worth pointing out that the trophy list includes 17 multiplayer trophies.Graphics:Goes without saying that the game is stunning. The best visuals I’ve ever seen in a game (and I didn’t think Uncharted 4 could be topped). The snow is the most realistic ever created for a video game… in fact, I think upcoming games are going to struggle in comparison, as this really shows what the ageing PS4 is still capable of (no doubt assisted by the huge install size).Sound:Often overlooked, but sound is integral to immersion. Again, as you would expect, its nothing short of perfect... subtle sounds that you don't necessarily notice, such as the clumping of your horse hooves really give this an added layer of authenticity.Gameplay:Reports say the game is 60 hours long for the main story, well, I've played for at least 10-12 hours now, and I'm only 9% into the main story and I feel that I've barely scratched the surface (I did spend a good hour playing poker though). The map is huge and beautiful. It’s worth pointing out, that like GTA 5, you can play in first person perspective, and you can replay missions to meet the various challenges. The only negative for me is that the character is a little sluggish to move at times, I know this adds to the realism, but it can be a pain during a gun fight!Early Negatives:Whilst the game is amazing, it's does have a couple of niggles for me (although these might be ironed out with updates or further into the game itself). Firstly, I don't like how I can only select 1 item of food or drink from the satchel - if I want to eat 3 items, I have to go back into it 3 times, as it kicks you out each time. Secondly, I'm not a huge fan of how easy it is to get a wanted rating... I accidentally knocked someone over with my horse at the start of Chapter 2 and I had a bounty to pay... by the time I had taken care (ahem) of the two lawman chasing me, I had to use all of the money I had found in Chapter 1 just to clear my debt - its equally frustrating when you go to rob somewhere, as even wearing a bandana you still rack up a bounty, which is often more expensive to pay off than any money you've stolen. Lastly (and this isn't a negative per se) but this is a game structured very much around RPG elements, i.e. you have to eat enough, rest, clean/feed your horse, support the NPC's with food etc. also, there is so much to learn that it can be daunting at first and the pace is quite slow compared to say GTA... this might not be what some people are after as its vastly different from the last Red Dead game.Current thoughts:I plan to add more to this review as I go through, but for now, I would highly recommend RDR2 to anyone who enjoys RPG and sandbox games.

7.11.2018

I had more fun with this game than any game released since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released back in 2015. It has one of the best-written story lines of any Rockstar game I have played, and I've played every mainline Grand Theft Auto game and Red Dead Redemption. The open world is big and immersive with so many different things going on. You don't have to travel very long before running into some dramatic random encounter happening in front of you that you can decide to either get involved in or steer clear of, depending on your priorities at the time. One of my favourite details are the spooky situations that you come across that draw you in like creepy little shacks with disturbing secretshidden inside or running into an NPC in the middle of nowhere at night that just gives off all the wrong vibes until you realise the sinister truth about them.Some of the gameplay mechanics and controls take some getting used to. I never did manage to get on top of maintaining my playable characters' body weight. The game expects you to eat a lot of food just to keep from becoming underweight, which adversely effects your maximum health. It's a feature I would have been happier without to be honest but it never really did hamper my progress through the game very much. Like any GTA game it's nowhere near the level of difficulty of a Bloodborne etc.As for the controls, it seems that currently being exclusive to consoles and therefore controllers means that there are far more actions you can make in the game than there are buttons to press e.g. focusing on a character that you just want to talk to requires you to hold the same exact button that you use to aim your gun at someone that you want to shoot or intimidate. This led me into some situations where I didn't do what I intended, resulting in me being in trouble with the law when I merely wanted to talk to someone. It's quite disappointing when mishaps like this ruin a random encounter that you are progressing through because sometimes a character that you could have had a conversation with will do nothing but run away from you if you accidentally knock them over while merely trying to loot the corpses of the bandits you just rescued them from.The graphics look amazing even on a bog-standard PS4 like I currently have. The frame rate very noticeably drops when visiting busier, more populated towns, but I kind of got used to it after a while. If the game eventually gets re-released on PC then I will buy it again on that platform so I can enjoy the story all over again but in 4K instead of 1080p. Even if you have a PlayStation 4 Pro the resolution of the game is still lower than the Xbox version is on an Xbox One X. If you have an Xbox One X I would recommend getting the Xbox version instead of this version for an overall better experience.As mentioned above, the story is very well-written and mature even for a Rockstar game. The story is also very long with 107 missions split into several chapters. There is a nice surprise in the story for veterans of the franchise too. I thought that this game is one of the few prequels to actually enhance and enrich the original. It allows you to understand the characters more.

9.3.2019

There must be hundreds of reviews for this game on Amazon already, but I have to add my voice to the almost universal praise this game has had. I'm only really commenting on the single player game here, as I generally don't play multiplayer – although I have dipped into Red Dead Online and that looks top quality too. If you loved the original RDR, then story-wise this is everything you could have wanted. No spoilers here, but I will say it ticked off everything I could have put on a wish list as an original RDR fan – maybe not all in the ways or order I might have expected, but that's part of what makes it fun.The open world nature of the game is beyond anything I've played to date.I had a strong desire to push on with the story, but my urge to explore and see what is just over that hill was overwhelming. It's an impressive, beautiful, surprisingly detailed world. Adding up the amount of time I've spent on the game before I progressed it to the final mission, and if I imagine that as if it were one continuous play session, then it was literally a whole week of my life. (And I haven't even got halfway through all the various discovery-type collectables).Every mission or side mission is different and there's no trace of the rinse-and-repeat grinding of identikit missions you find in other games. It's made with so much love for the developer's craft, and constantly surprises you or subverts your expectations in ways large and small. Life in the old West was surely hard at times, but in between the shooting this game is almost a love letter to the simpler aspect of those times. Riding your horse through open plains with views better then anything in any other modern game I've seen, it makes me want to put my controller down, get on a plane and go on a modern Wild West trail adventure, and maybe someday I'll do just that.It wouldn't be a proper review without listing at least one negative. Thankfully I have only one negative, and it is one that I hope the developers fix eventually. You can select any of your weapons when on horseback, but if you get off after riding for a while with your weapons sheathed, you often find you have left your favourite weapon on your horse and are left having to finish off whatever encounter you have started with your pistols.As to whether you should get the Special Edition, each to their own – I appreciated the extra map, higher quality horse and small amount of extras. But I can see that others might have been underwhelmed with the amount of bonus story given. Day 1 DLC is a thorny issue, so it was probably balanced right to be fair to everyone, but I was hoping to see a little extra content for SE owners possibly further down the line. Truth be told, I'm not personally unhappy with the content. At time of writing you can perhaps get the special edition cheaper now, so it's possibly less of an issue.Final words – a plea really to Rockstar Games – More. Story. DLC. Please! (Oh, and also when Arthur heckles the theatre performances, some reaction from the sleazy compère guy would be much appreciated. I'd like to feel like Arthur is really winding up that guy).

4.7.2019

Without a shadow of a doubt, this game is leaps and bounds ahead of other games.Rockstar have always led the way in massive open world RPGs, and when I heard the people who made GTAV were doing a western, I had to experience it, and that's exactly what it is, an experience!This is a massive, massive open world where you can pretty much do whatever you like.Not only that, but certain NPCs remember your face and how you've treated them in passing or maybe they saw you commit a crime,but they'll remember you for the whole game if you piss them off!I'm 150 odd hours into one particular game, and I've still got the people of Valentine cussing me out.This game is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest,and I'm not just saying that.You can either buy a horse, capture a wild horse, or lasso some unsuspecting dude off of his one. But make sure nobody sees, or they'll be off to the law to grass you up.You can interact with literally everyone in the game. Some will have tasks for you as long as you don't piss them off by robbing them.Example; one of the first non-story, non-stranger side missions is an old guy trying to build a house with his sons just south of Valentine.Keep popping in to say hello, and one time he'll be under attack by O'Driscolls.That's your opportunity to jump in and help him out, but make sure you hold L2 and "INTERVENE" before you start shooting, or you'll piss him off, and that's the end of your friendship.If you keep helping him, he'll eventually ask you for timber, and that actually plays into another side-mission that isn't technically a mission.That'll be where they're felling trees.Look for the white blip on radar, they're characters that you can interact with to a certain extent, and your demeanor and actions will dictate whether or not they ask for your help, or tell you to get off their land before they shoot you.There's also the legendary animal hunts where you look for clues and track rare animals for their pelts.The actual missions obviously that range from going to a party, to playing poker on a steamer, to robbing banks, trains, anything with money.The story is driven along by Arthur's (or Dutch's) gang, who "help people that need our help, feed people that need feeding, and kill people who need killing!"You could easily put 150 hours into a single run of this game if you were going for 100%I lost entire days playing this when I first got it.So that I found really interesting. These missions aren't really worth a lot, loyalty and small rewards, but it just shows how much time and energy went into the maki g of this fantastic game.One thing I will say, I really enjoyed the first 4 chapters, then things started to feel a little bit odd. I suppose it's supposed to, but I found myself losing a bit of interest towards the final missions, actually it's a bit before that, but I won't leave any spoilers.Let's see what GTA6 brings, because it's got lofty standards to meet now.

8.4.2021

Where to start with Red Dead Redemption 2, this beautiful masterpiece?The rolling hills. Sumptuous scenery. Watching as the sky turns to night, meaning you, Arthur Morgan, get to wander around the campsite as you watch the flames from the fire flicker, and laugh as your campmates sing campfire songs - you may get approached by the odd person, while you refresh your cores with a bowl of stew. Perhaps you fancy trimming your beard, or a game of five-finger fillet with Lenny, before morning breaks, and you head off on your trusty steed for another adventure?In short, this game is epic. A masterpiece. In a year of lockdown,I have been looking for the ultimate escape - and this journey across 1899 America and the end of the Wild West era is everything I had hoped for and more. The scenery as you gallop across acres of land is truly breath-taking. Just stop and admire the view. Give your horse a pat. My most recent mission involved me breaking a person out of jail. I'd just shot the local shopkeeper, which seemed a daft decision, when the law started hunting me down. But after the entire town descended on us, and we became wanted, dead or alive - we basically had to pepper bullets into everyone, and ride hell for leather to freedom. This made my earlier murder seem trivial by comparison. And I've been trying to be a good soul, honestly, the body count doesn't bear thinking about.I'm only 20 or so percent into the story so far, but I will remember this game for ever. Another mission involved me dragging a mate into a bar in town - the end of the night resulted in fisticuffs, and my character drunkenly stumbling up stairs, as I lost him in the bar. I saw everything in first person, as he crashed into everything, confusing every other person in sight.As I mentioned before, I shot a shopkeeper, only because my controller gave me that as the only option - generally I have found helping people to be more fun i.e. with medical aid. Perhaps I shouldn't have shot him! Perhaps you could go crazy, and kill everyone in sight. I've still managed to get a bounty on my head as it is; sometimes it's just too tempting to loot the odd random stranger. But this game feels like an epic novel - each delve into my gaming session is another chapter - what awaits me at my next turn. (Ironically, it would help if I stopped pressing the wrong button and opening up my journal every flaming second). Failing that, if you don't fancy getting on your horse, sit by the fire and cook some deer before settling down for the night under the stars.A truly, incredible, immersive experience. I never want Red Dead Redemption 2 to end. I need a few days breather after each mission. Arthur Morgan has become my link to Wild West America and I look forward to each and every outing. Just need a sit down by my bed for a bit, watching the night sky...

3.1.2019

Though the game is admittedly a slow burner at first, the game's pacing increases at an exponential rate and by the end you physically can't put down the controller as you get sucked in by the emotional and resonant story. The characters are brilliantly written and are all extremely complex and their opinions of you change based on your actions, you do truly feel like you are alive in this world.The thing that is most impressive about this game is the likability of main protagonist Arthur Morgan. You actively feel yourself change your play style through the game based on Arthur's own character arc. At first all I wanted to do was rob trains and build up as big a bounty as possible,however later on through the game as you got to know Arthur, it just felt wrong to do these things unless absolutely necessary.I could go on all day about this game, however one thing I definitely must mention is the incredible attention to detail in this game, it just adds to the sense that this is a living, breathing world. Just to list a few: if you fall of your horse in a muddy street, people will comment on how muddy and dirty you are. Your facial hair actually grows, so you need to trim it if you want to keep it short. If you get involved in a fist fight, you will likely loose your hat and have to pick it up again afterwards, the list could go on forever.POSITIVES:- Brilliant characters- Non-Linear story, player choice- Deeply engrossing story- Stunning visuals- Incredible attention to detail- Huge map, full of detail and hidden gems- Large variety of locations, from freezing mountains to filthy cities and alligator infested swamps- Fun and natural feeling side quests and stranger encounters- Fun combat, if a little repetitive- Brilliant Soundtrack- Great Voice-ActingNEGATIVES, These are only small gripes that I found occasionally irritating, but they never detracted from the overall experience:- Sometimes the game will randomly change your weapon load out in certain missions- The auto-aim is extreme to say the least and takes a while to get used to at first, once you are used to it though you can cut though hordes of enemies with ease. Turning auto-aim off causes the combat to become extremely cumbersome.- Sniper Rifles are difficult to use, because they completely lack auto aim and so are less accurate that a standard bolt-action rifle.- Some sections force you to use a sniper rifle, meaning that you have to use this weapon, as well as the fact that you have to look down the scope at all times meaning it is hard to have a bigger perspective of the locations of enemies, rather than being able to come out of the scope to observe the whole area.Again, as I mentioned, these don't attract from the overall experience which is phenomenal.Overall Grade 10/10.

5.12.2018

Disclaimer: I have not yet tested the online functionality of this game. This review will be based solely on the single player aspects of this game. This review will also be SPOILER FREE.When writing game reviews, I like to open with the cons. Never trust a review without at least one negative aspect. So here we go. It's glitched on me a few times, when I've been innocently trundling along on my horse and all of a sudden I'm underneath the map. To be fair, the map is massive and this has only happened a handful of times. It's not like it's a frequent issue. I also expect that it will be patched out by Rockstar eventually. Honestly, there aren't any more negatives that jump to mind.

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